Post by Keith on Aug 12, 2019 8:16:18 GMT -6

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A series of explosions rocked an ammunition depot in Turkey’s Hatay province, near the Syrian border, early on Friday and nearby homes were evacuated but there were no reports of casualties, Turkish broadcaster NTV said.

The cause of the blasts, at around 3:30 am (0030 GMT) in Hatay’s Reyhanli town, was not immediately clear, NTV said. Emergency services had sealed off the area, it said.

After the explosions fire broke out at some parts of the military ammunition depot, located near a football stadium just to the north of the border town of Reyhanli, the state-owned Anadolu news agency said.

Post by Keith on Aug 12, 2019 8:16:54 GMT -6

Syrian army takes strategic town from rebels in new advance

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria’s army has captured a strategically important town in Idlib in the rebels’ last major enclave, a war monitor and a military media unit run by its ally Hezbollah reported on Sunday.

The capture of al-Hobeit represents the most significant advance the army has made in Idlib province since the start of its offensive three months ago, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Hezbollah media unit described the town as the gateway to the southern countryside of Idlib, to the main Damascus-Aleppo highway and to the city of Khan Sheikhoun.

Post by Keith on Aug 12, 2019 8:17:37 GMT -6

Syrian constitution body could convene soon: Russian envoy

GENEVA (Reuters) - Russia hopes that an agreement can be reached soon under U.N. auspices on forming Syria’s new constitutional committee and that it can convene in Geneva as early as September, Moscow’s envoy said on Friday.

Formation of a constitutional committee is key to political reforms and new elections meant to unify Syria and end an eight-year-old war which has killed hundreds of thousands and displaced about half of Syria’s pre-war 22 million population.

Special Envoy Geir Pedersen said in Damascus last month after talks there that the United Nations was close to agreement with Syria on setting up the constitutional committee, a long-awaited step in the stalled peace process.

Post by Keith on Aug 13, 2019 7:27:46 GMT -6

U.S. delegation in southern Turkey for work on center to oversee Syria safe zone: officials

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A U.S. delegation has arrived in Turkey’s southern province of Sanliurfa to start work on the establishment of a joint operations center to coordinate a planned safe zone in neighboring Syria, Turkish authorities said on Monday.

The two NATO allies agreed in talks last week to establish the center that would manage the zone in northern Syria though no agreement has been announced on key details of the zone, including the size of the area in question and the command structure of joint patrols that would be conducted there.

There has been cautious progress on the center despite other disputes straining bilateral relations, including Turkey’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile defense system, as well as trials of local U.S. consulate employees in Turkey on terrorism charges.

Post by Keith on Aug 13, 2019 7:28:21 GMT -6

German prosecutors won't probe Brenntag over chemicals sale to Syria

DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Tuesday they had found no grounds to investigate Brenntag, the world’s largest chemicals distributor, over the sale to a company in Syria of substances that can be used in chemical weapons.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung, working with other media outlets, had in June reported that Brenntag sold ingredients with potential dual use in painkillers and nerve gas to a Syrian drugmaker, hitting its shares on concern over political repercussions in the United States.

But the prosecutors office in the western city of Duisburg said there were no sufficient signs of wrongdoing that would justify an investigation into Brenntag.

Post by Keith on Aug 14, 2019 7:29:13 GMT -6

Syrian government closes in on town that was bombed with sarin

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian government forces on Wednesday closed in on a rebel-held town in Idlib that was bombed with sarin in 2017, sources on both sides said, building on their Russian-backed gains since the collapse of a ceasefire this month.

The advance toward Khan Sheikhoun threatens to encircle the last remaining pocket of rebel-held territory in neighboring Hama province, including the towns of Morek, Kafr Zeita and Latamneh.

Russian-backed Syrian government forces seized new positions from rebels to the west of the town of Khan Sheihkoun, rebel sources and state media said. A rebel commander said the town, in opposition hands since 2014, was in “great danger”.

Post by Keith on Aug 15, 2019 7:13:39 GMT -6

Syrian government warplane crashes after being targeted by rebels: monitor

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian government warplane crashed in Idlib province on Wednesday after being targeted by rebel groups, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

The pro-Syrian opposition TV station Orient said the jet had been shot down in Khan Sheikhoun, a rebel-held town toward which government forces are advancing. Syrian state media made no initial mention of such an incident.

Post by Keith on Aug 15, 2019 7:14:21 GMT -6

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Rebels shot down a Syrian warplane in the opposition stronghold of Idlib province on Wednesday as Russian-backed government forces closed in on a strategically important town.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said the warplane had been hit by an anti-aircraft missile fired by militants while on a mission “to destroy headquarters of the Nusra Front”, a jihadist group now known as Tahrir al-Sham.

Tahrir al-Sham, the most powerful insurgent group in the area, said its fighters had shot down a Sukhoi 22 jet that had taken off from a Syrian air base in Homs province. It did not say how the jet had been brought down.

Post by Keith on Aug 15, 2019 7:14:51 GMT -6

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish drones have started operating in northern Syria where Washington and Ankara have agreed to create a safe zone, Turkey’s Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

Turkey and the United States agreed last week to set up a joint operations center regarding the safe zone to be established in northern Syria. No agreement has been announced on key details such as the size of the zone and the command structure of joint patrols that would be conducted there.

A six-person U.S. delegation arrived in the southern Turkish province of Sanliurfa on Monday to work on the establishment of the operations center.

Post by Keith on Aug 16, 2019 7:40:43 GMT -6

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A rebel group backed by Turkey will send reinforcements to the front lines of the last major rebel enclave in northern Syria to oppose a government offensive, it said on Thursday.

Over the past week, the Syrian army has advanced towards the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib in a pincer movement that could encircle the southern part of the rebel enclave.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Thursday that the rebels had launched a counter-attack on the eastern pincer at the village of Sukeik, and that dozens had been killed in the fighting.

Post by Keith on Aug 16, 2019 7:41:16 GMT -6

Syria says air defenses foil missile strike

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian air defenses identified a missile that was fired toward the city of Masyaf near Hama late on Thursday and destroyed it before it hit its target, a Syrian military source said.

The missile was fired from the direction of northern Lebanon, the military source added in a statement distributed on a messaging app.

State television had previously reported the sound of a massive blast near Masyaf in Hama province although there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.